88 • Introduction to Art Therapy
I have called a Life Space picture, representing what is most important in a person’s life at
that time symbolically on a large sheet of paper (18 x 12 or 18 x 24) (B). They can also be
sequential, as in a Life Line where people are invited to represent the ups and downs in their
lives using a line that can be varied in size and shape as well as images symbolizing major
events (Rubin, 2005b). On the DVD you can observe a man spontaneously representing his
life in an abstract line (C).
In a similar fashion, a single work of art can express and synthesize apparently incom-
patible affective states, such as love and hate. This is one reason why art is especially use-
ful in the task of internal psychological integration, a major goal of most psychotherapy
and self-development regardless of the clinician’s orientation (D). People want to feel more
“together,” and being able to put things together in a picture is one way to begin the process
of feeling more together internally.
Art therapy is also especially valuable for any group in turmoil, whether living in a home
(a family), an institution, or a community. Although people cannot talk simultaneously
and still hear each other, different individuals can work on their art at the same time (E).
Similarly, people cannot communicate with words unless they can take turns, whereas cre-
ating jointly in art can occur in a wide variety of ways (F).
The Art Product Is a Helpful Presence
The presence of the art makes for a clinical situation that is very different from verbal psy-
chotherapy. Even in individual art therapy, there is always a “third party” in the room. The
art acts as a bridge between patient and therapist, and as a transitional or transactional
object between the two (Figure 4.7). Paradoxically, the art serves both to reduce self-con-
sciousness and to enhance self-reflection, just because of its otherness (cf. Schaverien, 1992;
Schaverien & Case, 2007). On the DVD (G); you can see Mala Betensky inviting an ado-
lescent who is cognitively challenged to look at and reflect on what he has drawn with the
simple question “What do you see?” (Betensky, 1995).
Figure 4.7 Patient and therapist looking at a painting.